The government has published a long-awaited update to its official Renewable Energy Roadmap, which details how it expects the clean energy sector to rapidly expand over the next eight years.
The original Renewables Roadmap published in 2011 caused dismay across the renewables sector as it omitted solar technologies, which the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) argued was down to the excessive cost of PV and solar thermal.
Since 2011 the cost of solar pv technologies has dropped by over 50%, as a result DECC believes solar technology has the potential to form a “significant part of the renewable energy generation mix” and will play a key role in meeting the governments 2020 goals.
Paul Barwell, chief executive of the Solar Trade Association (STA), said the inclusion of solar was a major boost for the industry and also welcomed government plans to publish a detailed solar strategy this year.
‘”The Renewables Roadmap shows that solar PV is now fully recognised as a significant contributor to the UK’s renewables mix,” he said. “We’d go further and say solar PV will be a heavy-lifter in the UK’s broader energy mix. We’re going to be a lot cheaper than [carbon capture and storage] and nuclear in the 2020s.
“It’s therefore absolutely right that solar has its own dedicated strategy, as gas now has, and we look forward to working with DECC on this.”
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